


Twin Suns of... What's this place called?

by KittyPaw



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Gen, Movie: Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, Sort Of, Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-12
Updated: 2020-11-10
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:48:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26973931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KittyPaw/pseuds/KittyPaw
Summary: "Come on, guys, you know I don't watch Star Wars!"You're going to wish you'd watched these someday."Kate really wishes she'd listened to her friends.She knows enough about Star Wars to know she's been plopped into the universe, and the little boy she's befriended is going to be important someday... but other than that, she's still trying to figure everything out. She knows the word "Jedi," but doesn't know much except that they're the good guys. Oh yeah, and she's pretty sure "Anakin Skywalker" is going to be important.What Kate doesn't know is that she's about to completely change the course of history for this galaxy - for better... or for worse.Shereallydidn't sign up for this.
Relationships: Anakin Skywalker & Original Character(s), Anakin Skywalker & Shmi Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker, Padmé Amidala & Anakin Skywalker, Padmé Amidala & Obi-Wan Kenobi, Padmé Amidala & Qui-Gon Jinn, Qui-Gon Jinn & Anakin Skywalker, Qui-Gon Jinn & Obi-Wan Kenobi
Comments: 22
Kudos: 42





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> KittyPaw. Stop creating AU works-in-progress. We want you to update the stuff you have going.
> 
> I assure you, I have everything under control... *sweats under the heat of pressure just as hot as the twin suns of Tatooine*
> 
> I really hope you guys enjoy this!

Ava: _Want to come over to my house? Claire and I are watching a movie._

Kate: _What movie?_

Ava: _The Phantom Menace._

Kate: _What the heck is that?_

Ava: _It's a Star Wars movie. Claire and I just finished watching the originals and wondered if you wanted to join us for the prequels._

Kate: _Come on, guys, you know I don't watch Star Wars!_

Ava: _Okay, whatever, but you're going to wish you'd watched these someday_.

Ava was right.

The very next day, Kate woke up not in her bed, but in a bunch of _sand_. And what on _Earth_ was she dressed as?

Standing up quickly and brushing off a bunch of the sand, she surveyed her surroundings. A bunch of sand and two scorching suns. and a giant cliff.. and nothing else. Where on Earth was she?

Or just, where was she? Because she was pretty sure there was nowhere on Earth with "two suns."

Pinching herself a few times to make sure this wasn't a dream, she took a few steps, already scorching hot and terribly thirsty. Why was she here? She looked over to one side and caught sight of a single person dragging something across the sand. The thing he was dragging had to be three times his size. Moving a little closer, she saw that it was a very young boy - couldn't be older than eight years old. And the thing he was carrying was totally wrecked - was it supposed to be a plane of some kind?

She didn't know where she was or what she was doing, but she did know that was the only human life she'd seen yet, and that carrying something that heavy in the desert must be really hard. So she started running towards him - thankfully not for long, given how hot she was already.

"Hey!" She said. The boy dropped the thing and looked up.

"Hi?" He said slowly.

"Do you know how to get to civilization?"

The boy raised an eyebrow. "Civilization? On _Tatooine_? I think you mean you're looking for a town."

"Um... yeah."

The boy smiled and said, "Then you can follow me - I'm on my way to Mos Espa, which is where I live." He somehow managed to stay perfectly calm as he grabbed the... _thing_ again and began to drag it.

"Do you want help with that?"

The boy gave her a strange look. "Is that a test?"

"Huh?"

"I mean is that a test?" He started to look suspicious. "Who are you?"

"My name is Kate, and how would I be testing you?" She surveyed her surroundings. "I have literally no clue how the heck I'm here, anyway. I went to sleep in my bed and woke up in all this irritating sand."

The boy's mouth tilted into a smirk. "Yeah, I don't like the sand here either. My name is Anakin, by the way. And... yeah. I guess I'd like help." He bit his lip. Kate wasn't sure what he was expecting, but he seemed surprised when she came over and helped him drag it.

"What is this thing anyway?"

"A crashed podracer," he explained, but Kate still didn't get it. What the freak was a _podracer_? "Watto entered me into one. He's not going to be happy that I lost again."

"Who's Watto and what is a podrace?" Kate asked him.

"You're _really_ not from here," Anakin announced. "Well... a podrace is a race. With pods." _That cleared things up_. "And Watto is my master back at Mos Espa." And Kate had no idea what he meant by that either, but decided not to ask.

Eventually, Kate saw civili- a town come into view. "That's where I live," Anakin explained. "It's where the race track _starts_ , too, but I crashed somewhere out by a cliffside. It was Sebulba's fault, not mine, but Watto's not probably going to care."

Watto didn't turn out to be very nice.

"Look what you've done to my pod! Just _look_ at it!" And then he began ranting in some other language as she stomped around the shop. Eventually Anakin spoke up.

"It wasn't my fault! Sebulba ran me into a cliff, he _cheated_ \- "

"Cheating is how you _win_ in these races, boy! Maybe if you cheated every now and then, you'd actually get me some money!" Yeah, Kate wasn't liking this place one bit. Why couldn't she be back home right now? Where the heck was she?

Then Watto turned to her. "And who's _this_?"

"My name is Kate," she introduced herself, trying to be civilized.

"Do you know him?"

Kate shrugged. "Not... really."

"Good." Watto pointed to the wrecked pod. "You'll be working on this till nightfall, and tomorrow until it's fixed!"

"Don't worry. I'll have it done by nightfall," Anakin assured him, looking down. Watto nodded and buzzed off angrily. Kate was totally confused. Why did that guy think he had the right to just order Anakin around like that? He wasn't his father; whatever species it was, it _wasn't_ human.

"What the heck was that?" Kate spat distastefully.

Anakin shrugged. "Eh, it's fine. At least he didn't take away my meals or anything. As far as slave masters go, he's definitely not the worst," he said, dragging the pod through the shop.

That brought Kate up short. _Slave masters_?

"But... slavery was abolished two hundred years ago!" Kate protested.

Anakin's eyes widened. "I want to know what planet you're from!"

"Uh..." What kind of question was that? "Earth?"

Anakin shrugged. "Never heard of it. It's not in the Outer Rim, is it." It wasn't a question, thankfully, because Kate had no clue what that meant. "Anyway, I have to work on this till both the suns set, or I'll get in trouble, but after that do you want to come to my place? My mom'll be okay with it, I bring friends home all the time! Of course..." Anakin bit his lip. "Assuming we're friends?"

Kate found herself saying, "Of course we are!" Even though she literally just met the kid and knew nothing about him or his mother.

"My name is Kate. I really hope you don't mind -"

"Oh, nonsense. My son is bringing strangers home all the time." She extended her hand. "My name is Shmi Skywalker."

Kate shook her hand. "Nice to meet -" she froze. "You." Her mind was reeling.

_Skywalker?_

_THAT'S WHERE SHE WAS?_

"Is everything alright?" Shmi _SKYWALKER_ asked, concerned.

"It's... nothing. So, your name is Skywalker?"

Shmi nodded. "If you've heard it before, it's probably because of my son's constant racing."

No, that wasn't where she'd heard it before. She'd never even heard of an "Anakin Skywalker," but she did know that "Luke Skywalker" was a character in Star Wars. Aaaaand Kate found herself wishing she'd gone to Ava's to watch the movies.

Cause she'd just been plopped into the universe where the only piece of information she knew was that Darth Vader was Luke's father.


	2. Chapter 2

**_Three months later_ **

Kate was in the shop, like she always was, when Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, and Padmé entered the shop. Watto took Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan while Padmé stayed inside. Kate, of course, did not know their names. Then, out of nowhere, Anakin said, "Are you an angel?"

Kate's head whipped over to where the young girl looked very confused. "Am I a what?"

"An angel," Anakin explained. "They're said to be the most beautiful of creatures. They live on the moons of Iego, I think."

 _No, they live in heaven._ This really was a strange place. Kate was still trying to get used to it, but the most she'd learned about the way this Star Wars universe worked was that there were different clusters of planets and the whole galaxy was one republic. This wasn't the scary Empire she knew from what she'd sort of heard - then again, she wasn't big on Star Wars.

"Well I've never heard of angels." That was even werider.

"Then maybe you are one, and you just don't know it yet!"

"You're a funny little boy." The girl walked closer. "How do you know so much?"

"I listen to some of the traders who walk through here, and Kate teaches me quite a bit, too," Anakin said. The girl looked over at Kate, who waved with a smile. "She showed up out of nowhere out by the cliff where I crashed a few months ago, and now she's like my older sister!"

It was true, little Anakin had become like a little brother to her in the three months she'd known him. It had to feel even longer to him. "It's nice to meet you, Kate," she said. "I'm Padmé Naberrie."

"I'm Anakin Skywalker!" Anakin said.

Padmé looked back over at him, and then back at Kate. "Have you been here long?"

"I've only been here for three months. I'm still adjusting," Kate admitted.

"And I've been here as long as I can remember." Anakin was tinkering with something in his hands - most likely fixing the mechanics of something to make it work better. "My mother and I were sold to Gardulla the Hutt, but she lost us to Watto betting on the podraces. Watto's a lot better, I think." Kate bit her lip when she saw the shock on Padmé's face.

"You're a slave?"

Anakin's gaze hardened defiantly. "I am a person!" That was what Kate had been telling him for months, as well as his mother. _He was a person_.

Padmé nodded and looked away quickly. "Of course." She looked apologetic and upset. "I don't fully understand, I guess. This is a strange world to me."

"You're a strange girl to me," Anakin said, staring at her intently. "Strange girls have been showing up all the time recently, I guess." He cocked his head at Kate. "I didn't think she was an angel though."

After staring at Padmé a little longer, he eventually said, "I'm going to marry you someday." Kate facepalmed. Anakin didn't see, but Padmé did and she laughed merrily. "I mean it," he insisted.

"You are an odd one," she said, laughter dying away. "Why do you say that?"

He hesitated. "I guess because it's what I believe..."

She smiled again. "Well, I'm afraid I can't marry you, Anakin. You're just a little boy."

"I won't be forever," he whispered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this was kind of short but I've introduced Padmé now. Poor Kate is beginning to figure things out... boy oh boy when she figures out who Anakin is gonna become...
> 
> How will she learn?
> 
> You'll see!


	3. Chapter 3

"Shmi, I made dinner!" Kate said. She always brought them meals she bought in Mos Espa, but occasionally she'd actually make them as a surprise when they got home from work. It wasn't fair for them to have to take care of themselves _and_ everything else.

"Oh, Kate! You didn't have to!"

"That's what makes it a gift!" She kissed her cheek as she began to set the table. "There's a little extra, so if you or Ani are hungry after -"

"Mom, Kate! There's a sandstorm and I brought friends!" Anakin burst through the doors, and Kate sighed. In the few months she'd known Anakin, she had learned very quickly she was not the only stranger Anakin brought home. It was hardly a surprise anymore.

"Your son was kind enough to offer us shelter," the tall man said to Shmi. "We hope you don't mind."

Shmi sighed. "Anakin's surprises are hardly surprises anymore." She kissed her son's cheeks. "Come in. Kate, set the table for our guests too."

"I'm Padmé Am - Naberrie," said Padmé. _Interesting._ Did she slip for a minute, or just stutter a little?

"Qui-Gon Jinn," said the tall one.

"Mesa Jar Jar Binks!" That was the funny creature.

"I'm Shmi Skywalker," she said, holding out her hand. Qui-Gon shook it.

"I'm Kate," she said, also shaking Qui-Gon's hand.

"Anakin's sister?" Qui-Gon inquired.

She shook her head. "I'm not a Skywalker."

Qui-Gon probably noticed that she didn't give her last name, and was probably wondering about that. Well, it was none of Qui-Gon's business, so he was just going to have to wonder. "So a friend of theirs, then?" He said, clearly sizing her up.

"Yes. I live on the other side of Mos Espa." Technically. She spent a lot of time at the Skywalkers', actually.

"Yousa not a slave, then?" Jar Jar very rudely decided to put in.

"No," Kate said as collected as she could. "But that doesn't make me any more important or worth your time than Anakin or Shmi."

"Of course not," Padmé said quickly. "Forgive Jar Jar - we're all just shocked that slavery _exists_ in the galaxy. The republic -"

"Doesn't exist out here," Shmi cut her off.

"The republic would be having none of that!" Padmé said indignantly.

"If it existed out here," Kate said dryly, her wit from Earth still very much intact. "Now, who wants some dinner?"

As they gathered around the table, a tense silence had fallen, making little Anakin visibly squirm. Eventually, breaking the tension, he asked, "Have any of you seen a podrace before?"

Padmé shook her head, but Qui-Gon nodded. "They have them on Malastare. Very fast, very dangerous."

"And I'm the only human who can do it!" Anakin said triumphantly. His mother gave him a look and he pouted. "I'm not bragging, Mom. Watto says he's never even heard of a human doing it!"

"You must have Jedi reflexes if you can race pods," Qui-Gon noted, making Kate's senses go into high-alert, but then Jar Jar tried grabbing something with his tongue and Qui-Gon immediately caught it between his two fingers, barely blinking or moving at all. "Don't do that again," he calmly but firmly instructed Jar Jar, letting go of it.

"Speaking of Jedi reflexes," Kate said dryly, giving Qui-Gon a look.

"What about them?" Qui-Gon calmly inquired, going back to eating.

Kate was about to bring up the whole catching-Jar Jar's-tongue thing, but Anakin said, "I think _you're_ a Jedi knight."

Qui-Gon gave him an interested look, so he continued. "I saw your laser sword earlier. Only Jedis carry that kind of weapon."

Kate expected Qui-Gon to correct his grammar, but instead he said, "Perhaps I killed a Jedi and took it from him."

Anakin raised an eyebrow. "I don't think so. Nobody can kill a Jedi."

An ironic smile rose on Qui-Gon's face. "I wish that were true."

"I had a dream where I was a Jedi," Anakin said, looking down at his food. "I came back here, though. To free the slaves." He looked up hopefully. "Wait, have you come to free us?"

"No," Qui-Gon said very quickly and emotionlessly, causing Kate to fight a scowl. Seriously? Where was his sensitivity "I'm afraid not."

"I think you have," Anakin insisted. "Why else would you be here?"

Padmé looked down, clearly just as uncomfortable with Qui-Gon as Kate was beginning to be. "We're on our way to Coruscant, the central system of the republic. We're on a very important mission - you mustn't alert anyone to our presence."

Anakin's eyebrow's furrowed. "Coruscant? Then how did you end up in the Outer Rim?"

"Our ship was damaged," Padmé told him. "So now we're stranded until we can repair it."

"A crashed ship in the Outer Rim? On your way to Coruscant?" Anakin shook his head. "You must be _really_ unlucky."

"I don't believe in luck," Qui-Gon said. "I believe we're here for a reason." He gave Anakin a strange look before averting his eyes back to his food. "But for now, we have to fix our ship."

"I can fix _anything_. I'm a mechanic!" Anakin said. "No really, I am. I'm young but I'm sure I can repair your ship."

"First we need the tools," Qui-Gon reminded him.

Anakin looked down. "Which is what you were doing at Watto's shop. I see."

"We don't have anything to trade except republic credits, though," Padmé said.

"Well those won't work on Watto," Anakin told them.

"And neither will our mind tricks," Qui-Gon muttered. "So for now we're stuck."

"These junk dealers _must_ have a weakness," Padmé insisted.

She looked over at Shmi and Kate, the question in her eyes. They simultaneously said, "Gambling."

"Everything around here revolves around betting on those awful races," Kate said with a shake of her head.

"The podraces," Qui-Gon murmured. "Greed can be a powerful ally..."

"I've build a racer - the fastest _ever_!" Anakin said excitedly. "There's a really big race tomorrow for Boonta Eve. You could enter my pod, I could race, and if I win you coudl get the parts that you -"

"Anakin!" Shmi interrupted. "Watto won't let you!"

"Watto doesn't even know I built it!" Anakin insisted. "You could make him think it was yours, and get him to let me pilot it for you by splitting the winnings or something!"

"Anakin, _I_ don't want you to race," Shmi told her son. "It's terrible. I die a little every time Watto makes you do it."

"It's dangerous, Ani. You shouldn't risk it when you don't have to," Kate told him.

"But Mom, I love it! And Kate, it's not _that_ dangerous!" Anakin gave them a look. "And the prize money would _more_ than pay for the parts they need."

"Your mother is right," Qui-Gon said, and Kate was glad they refused his help. Anakin was so quick to care about other people, immediately giving without any thought of reward. Putting his life in danger so strangers could get the parts they needed was a sweet thought, but Kate couldn't stand for it. "Is there anybody friendly to the Republic around here who can help us out?"

Shmi sighed in defeat. "No."

"You always say the biggest problem with this galaxy is that nobody ever _helps_ each other," Anakin insisted.

"I'm sure Qui-Gon doesn't want to put your son in danger," Padmé assured her. "We'll find another way."

Shmi gave a resigned shake of her head. "No, Anakin is right. He can help you."

Kate thought about it. She _had_ been sent into the Star Wars universe for some reason, and she had a feeling this was a pivotal moment for the story. She just got this gut feeling Anakin had to enter the race. "I think he was meant to help you," Kate said, looking over at Anakin, who's face was hopeful.

"I think so too," Qui-Gon muttered. "Yes. I certainly do."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha... I forgot this existed for a moment. Or a month. Oops.
> 
> So... yes, I know what Kate's last name is. This is a part of character building here - just wait. And I'm aware this was mostly just the plot of TPM, but don't worry, it'll start getting more AU soon.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed!


End file.
